Cafe Portofino, Lihue HI

Went for my Birthday, food was great as usual. Service was also fantastic. My complaint is the bread they gave us was stale and my husbands asked for a glass of wines that never brought to him.

Amazing food and service. Was the fastest sit down meal we had all week which is a huge plus!

We were 6 people for the first time in this "restaurant". It started when the bored, disinterested gentleman at the reception left us to look for the reserved table. It wasn't ready so we had to wait.
When we then wanted to sit down, 2 of the 6 chairs were so dirty that we had to exchange them for others from the neighboring table so as not to soil our clothes.
A short time later a young woman appeared who filled the water glasses and made the same bored impression as the gentleman at the reception. Not a word, not a movement when we smiled and thanked us for the water.simply no reaction!
Then our table lady/waitress came. She introduced herself, asked if we still needed time and if we wanted to order drinks. She was a bright spot. She also impressed by memorizing the order for 6 people correctly without writing it down.
The bread that was handed out in advance for an Italian restaurant, and possibly also vinegar and oil, did not exist.
The food came very very quickly. The portions were okay and the taste was good.
However, the average portion of spaghetti bolognese is priced very high at $25.
Bread was only served with a plate of ministrone on request.
It does not live up to the claim that this restaurant implied by its high prices.
We will definitely, definitely not eat here again.
Too bad, it should have been a nice evening.

Wir waren mit 6 Personen zum ersten Mal in diesem "Restaurant". Es begann damit, dass der gelangweilte, desinteressiert wirkende Herr am Empfang uns stehen ließ, um den reservierten Tisch zu suchen. Dieser war nicht fertig, sodass wir warten mussten.
Als wir dann Platz nehmen wollten, waren 2 von 6 Stühlen derart schmutzig/verdreckt, dass wir diese gegen andere vom Nachbartisch austauschen mussten, um unsere Kleidung nicht zu verunreinigen.
Es erschien kurze Zeit später eine junge Frau, die die Wassergläser füllte und den gleichen gelangweilten Eindruck machte, wie der Herr am Empfang. Weder ein Wort, noch eine Regung als wir uns lächelnd für das Wasser bedankten.einfach keine Reaktion!
Dann kam unsere Tischdame/Kellnerin. Sie stellte sich vor, fragte, ob wir noch Zeit benötigten und ob wir Getränke bestellen wollten. Sie war ein Lichtblick. Außerdem beeindruckte sie dadurch, dass sie sich die Bestellung für 6 Personen korrekt merkte ohne zu notieren.
Das für ein italienisches Restaurant vorab gereichte Brot, evtl.auch Essig und Öl, gab es nicht.
Das Essen kam sehr sehr schnell. Die Portionen waren okay und der Geschmack war gut.
Allerdings ist der Preis für eine durchschnittliche Portion Spaghetti Bolognese mit $25 sehr sehr hoch angesetzt.
Zu einem Teller Ministrone wurde erst auf Nachfrage Brot serviert.
Den Anspruch, den dieses Restaurant durch seine Hochpreisigkeit impliziert, wird es nicht gerecht.
Wir werden hier sicher, ganz sicher, nicht wieder essen.
Schade, es hätte ein schöner Abend werden sollen.

The people were extremely rude to my husband when he went in there to pick up a pick up order. The hostess looked at him and said "you can't come in here dressed like that! " He was wearing flip flops, cargo shorts and a kauai t shirt.
Typical beach vacation attire. This place is right on the beach. Once he told her he was there to pick up an order she told him to go to the bar. Then to make things worse, the pizza was extremely disappointing. Super flat crust. Super greasy. No real flavor and soggy.
Pizza outside of a bar from a street vendor is better than this place. A frozen pizza is better than this place. And their treatment of their patrons is despicable.
Do not even bother going here. You'll be highly disappointed.
Go to Dukes or Lilikoi. They're fabulous.

Food was ok, definitely expensive for what you get though. Big wine list, but no cocktails list, just a list of what's on their shelf. Also, odd policy about the pizza only being served at indoor sitting, not out on the terrace though. Nice view of the beach.

2 out of 4 meals were still cold in the middle but the plates were super hot …… it is kinda odd that they charge you extra for more bread too

The food was great. Service is good. We went back a second time because they had gluten-free pizza, and one of our group is celiac. The first time was fantastic all around. The second time, we received a regular pizza instead of GF and had to ask to be sure. So glad our GF person was cautious.
It took about 10 minutes or so for the replacement, but all of the food was good. When compared with other local shops, the price wasn't too bad. If the food and service is good, I don't mind paying island prices.

I will say the positive first… my waitress Rachel was absolutely amazing. So kind and sweet no matter how my party and I looked. She was attentive and went out her way. I ordered a scampi lemon thing which i thought came with noodles which it did not but she still brought noodles because I’ve never had a scampi without noodles. Anyways. She was wonderful which is the only reason i gave 2 stars…
From the moment we walked in to be honest we were not met with kindness etc it was awkward. The food was subpar to say the least. Shrimp was cooked right. Vegetables were soggy. The lasagna ordered was not that good either. Noodles over cooked. Soggy. When bread was put on our table it was almost thrown down with a “here’s your bread”. And walk off. When my water was refilled (which is a positive) because i didn’t have to ask buttttt when i said thank you while lady was pouring she just walked off.
Now I did walk in with an open red Bull which i did not drink during my 25 min stay there if that… the waitress handed me a cup of ice and said the person in front wants the Red Bull in a cup or something like that; I’m not sure what happened. Nothing was said to me. I did not even drink what i poured in the cup. As i didn’t want to drink Red Bull with Italian food. But i did have that and only waitress offered me a cup to pour it into. Maybe that was the issue. But all in all. I did not feel welcome coming here. I will tell everyone i come across it is not welcoming and not pleasant. Except Rachel. Thank you Rachel.

Ordered a Margarita pizza. I guess you could call it a pizza. It was cold and nothing to it at all. The price was $8.00 too much for the pizza we got. Should have bought a frozen one!

The service was very slow, the prices were outrageously high for the quality of the food, and the waitresses were rude. The portions were also quite small, which was good considering I wouldn’t want to take any of my disgusting food to go. Even the chairs we were sat at had stains all over them.

Hi there Cafe portofino restaurant staff! Thank you for the support of my birthday yesterday. We will come again soon. We love you very much!

We hadn't been to Cafe Portofino for years and my daughter suggested it for her birthday. We loved the atmosphere, overlooking the beach, and the spaciousness. The staff were very professionally dressed and service was great. We ordered the calamari, beet salad, pesto pasta, spaghetti with meatballs, and eggplant parmagiana. Also the caramel custard and profiteroles. Everything was good, the calamari especially (light, crispy, delicious). The prices were on par with the other restaurants of comparable quality, although the dessert prices were a tad high. We also ordered a glass of wine and a Mai Tai. After dinner we walked along the hotel path fronting the beach-perfect blend of exciting (you see people dining, walking, enjoying the beach) and romantic (sun beginning to set, weather was perfect). We all agreed that we have to come back more often!

The staff, atmosphere and restaurant are incredible!
The margarita pizza was pretty good, I believe the parmesan cheese used on the pizza was the same stuff in the shaker on the table. It was also a bit crispy.
Overall though, I would recommend this restaurant!

Nice patio view. Had the osso bucco. It was pretty tasty. They have lots of wines to pick from and your typical island mixed drinks.

Stooped in at the bar for some pizza and margaritas. The pizza was top notch and the drinks were too. Customer service was great and the wait for the food wasn't too long. I recommend the garlic bread!

Food was subpar for what we paid for, the toppings on the pizza were good quality but the final product was greatly lacking, and they charge 4 dollars for ranch.